Great interest from students to VETAŞ
Philipp Haas, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of DEVA Holding and VETAŞ A.Ş. shared the new projects of VETAŞ with the students of the Istanbul University, Veterinary Faculty, on 29 May.
The meeting organized at the Istanbul University, Veterinary Faculty, on 29 May, began with the speech of Ass. Prof. İsmail Kırşan, Assistant Dean of the Veterinary Faculty of the Istanbul University. Assistant Dean Kırşan expressed their great satisfaction for the visit of the firm VETAŞ to their faculty and underlined that the communication between firms and universities will contribute to shape the future. Then, Philipp Haas, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of DEVA Holding and VETAŞ A.Ş., who took the stage shared with students the current state of the Turkish human and veterinary drugs industry, the contribution of DEVA and VETAŞ to the development of the drugs industry and provided detailed information on DEVA Holding and VETAŞ.
With its expert staff formed by a majority of veterinary surgeons, following up the country’s requirements in livestock, VETAŞ offers its services throughout Turkey.
HISTORY OF DEVA AND VETAŞ
VETAŞ was established in 1973 within DEVA Holding founded by physicians, pharmacists and veterinary surgeons in 1958. In 1973, their first product, Vetimisin inj. was supplied to the market. Between 1981 and 1987 DEVA ranked among the first 5 firms in the world to produce the ram material gentamicin and supplied its first products containing gentamicin to the market. VETAŞ founded its beta-lactam production facility in Çerkezköy in 2013 and in its 40th anniversary it implements two new projects, VETAFARGE and VETAKADEMİ.
With its local veterinary drugs production, VETAŞ supports Turkey in becoming a self-sufficient country.
Drug exports increased
Haas indicated that in 2012 the total market share of the drugs sector was 8.7 billion USD, imports 4.7 billion USD and exports 0.6 billion USD, and that the trade deficit of the drugs sector was 4.1 billion USD. At the meeting where students listened with interest, he indicated that in 2011 finished products amounting to 70 million Dollars were imported in the animal health market, whereas exports were very low. Philipp Haas also indicated that 90% of imported products whose cost amounted to 4.7 billion USD could be produced in Turkey and provided information on VETAŞ’s mission.
At the meeting, Haas also provided information on export data and declared that between 2000 and 2012 drugs imports increased 7 fold and total domestic production 3 fold.
It was explained to students that DEVA and VETAŞ aims at further increasing production in Turkey, supply first generics to the market, export to European Union countries and the U.S.A., and that the production of drug raw materials implied the supply of products required in Turkey in case of war, natural disaster, commercial investments and foreign originator firms’ threats.
EU GMP certified facilities
Philipp Haas indicated that DEVA Holding had production facilities at Çerkezköy and Kartepe, and that penicillin, cephalosporin, hormone production facilities and general production facilities for solid and liquid oral forms, suppositories, pomades and creams, aerosol inhalers, an R&D center, VETAŞ beta-lactam production facility were located at the Çerkezköy center and that the liquid oncology production facility was under construction. Haas indicated that the solid oncology production facility was EU GMP certified and the capacity of the facility was 22.5 million boxes per year.
Haas indicated that 150 scientists were working at the R&D center and that completed dosage form pharmaceutical raw material research and development were carried out.
Huge employment
Having strong market penetration with its regional offices throughout Turkey, DEVA operates with a field force of 500 persons. VETAŞ offers its services all over Turkey with its marketing and sales team composed of 30 persons and follows up the requirements of country’s livestock. With its young skilled persons program organized at the Istanbul University, VETAŞ announced that they will provide employment in many fields such as R&D formulation experts, national and international regulatory affairs specialists, marketing permit managers, pharmacovigilance managers, product managers, and international market access managers.